I'm tired of lugging my laptop around, so I'm thinking of getting a tablet. What seems to be the best value and can allow me to create/modify documents? It will also be used to demo remote control apps, mainly because a lot of my clients don't like using their phone for that (I don't, either). I don't want top of the line, just something that works decently.

Thanks

I think that the MS Surface Pros are really nice. They are convertables so they can be a tablet or a laptop depending on need, and they are really light and thin, so it's not a problem carrying one around. The performance is good and they seem durable to me, though I've not abused one really badly myself.

The only thing keeping me in iOS world at this point is that it is of what 99% of my clients have in their own house, so if I showed them something, it’s the same user experience.

If I was looking for a device to replace a laptop, surface pro would definitely be the way I was going.

Just trying to figure out which one of my clients is masquerading around the forums as highfigh

iPad Pro with a keyboard. Apple has their own apps for docs or you can use the google docs apps.

Apple keeps trying to make a tablet into more than a consumption device.
But they keep failing, there's no mouse. I'm sorry a pencil is no replacement for a mouse. Typing and touching a screen aren't the same thing. Try it, try highlighting text, resize a picture, select a range of cells in a spreadsheet, insert a picture in a word document. Ugh.

So there's the Surface, probably the best at what it's trying to be. But by the time you add a keyboard, and a dongle for ethernet, and a dongle for HDMI, and a dongle for power, and a mouse, you need a bag to put it all in, voila you've created a laptop. (which you can't use on your lap, because the keyboard is unsupportive).

Laptops create, tablets consume.
Which is fine, each has it's purpose.

+1

I prefer the Book over the Surface. Its a real laptop. Great battery life. I bought it thinking i would OFTEN use it as tablet, I rarely do. Hate not having a keyboard.

Crazy thin, crazy light. Not cheap though. At least they were not when they first come out. VERY please however with that purchase. Been a couple years ago and going strong.

Yeh, the main downside to the surface is that it uses a kickstand. It doesn't have a fixed position hinge to hold the display part up at a given angle. This can be an issue sometimes, and you might want something like the Book instead if that's a big deal.

For instance, I watch youtube videos pretty often before going to sleep. So I'm lying in the bed with the Surface on my chest. It used to sit just right. But, over the last six months I've lost almost 25 lbs, and now it tends to want to fall over backwards on me if I let go of it. I guess my computing platform has been reduced.

OTOH, if you really want something that's sometimes a tablet and sometimes 90% of a real laptop, it's hard to beat. And of course they have a 'docking' station thingie you can use at home to turn it into 90% of an office machine if you want. So it's pretty flexible.

I wonder why no one has made a carrier/holder for the surface that provides the rigid hinge? It would be a perfect option. If it just let you slide the top part down into a slot onto the keyboard that is held in the bottom part of the holder. And you could easily slide the two parts out for use at home.

I don't want much, I just want it all. For 89 cents.

I have laptops, I have desktops and I have the iPhone but that's smaller than I like for using some remote apps/programs or working with documents. I don't need huge storage because I use Dropbox and have a large enough hard drive next to my main computer. I don't play games and I don't expect to watch many videos where I need to see great detail, nor will I use it as a main display. What does that leave? I could use 32G of storage and since I don't need anything to do major number crunching or video processing, a basic iPad or Android should work, but I'm asking for feedback on what seems to work well.

IMO you have to have an ipad in this industry whether you like it or not. Every app that exists comes in iOS form. My ipad 3 only ever gets used at jobsites. I have no personal want/need for it because my smart phone handles almost everything and my laptop or desktop picks up where it leaves off.

Go with the wi-fi only 9.7" $329 ipad. All of our phones are hotspots now so its not important to get one with mobile provider built in. If you only use it for work and keep a case on it you shouldn't have to buy a new one for 3 or 4 years.

Do you use yours to generate invoices for one-stop jobs (do you do one-stop jobs?), or to modify invoices when something on a project has changed? I'd like to be able to do that when I'm out, so I don't need to drag the laptop out or do so much admin after I return from the jobs.

I have customers and know others who have an almost visceral hatred of anything with 'Apple' on it and I know some who hate Android.